\n<\/p>\n

We need a church for\u2062 the nones, or Americans who\u200c say\u200d they don\u2019t \u2063belong to a \u200bparticular religion. That\u2019s what The Washington Post\u2019s\u200d Perry Bacon calls for in\u2064 a much-ballyhooed<\/a> column\u2062 last\u200b month<\/a>. \u201cStart the service with songs \u2063with positive messages. \u2026 Reserve time when church members can tell the congregation about their highs and lows from the\u200c previous week. \u2064Listen as the pastor\u200b gives a sermon on tolerance\u2064 or some other universal value, while\u2062 briefly touching on whatever \u200dissues are in the news,\u201d Bacon suggests. Sunday services would be supplemented by volunteer, community-service activities, he adds.<\/p>\n

Bacon, \u2064who grew up\u2064 evangelical,\u200d communicates a yearning felt by many\u2064 Americans in this atomized age. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, in \u200da \u2063recent advisory titled \u201c Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation<\/a>,\u201d asserted: \u201cReligious or faith-based \u200bgroups can be a source for regular social contact, serve as a community of support, provide \u2064meaning and purpose, create\u200b a sense\u2062 of\u2064 belonging around shared values and\u200b beliefs, and \u200care associated\u200d with reduced risk-taking behaviors.\u201d Church, \u2062even our post-Christian culture can \u2063admit, is healthy\u2062 <\/em>for\u200b us. Sen. Chris \u2064Murphy, D-Conn., argued much the same in \u200ca June speech<\/a>,\u2063 citing\u200b the values of\u200d churches to\u2063 address \u2064our \u201cepidemic of loneliness\u201d by \u2062giving us \u201cconnection\u201d and \u201cmeaning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A church without God, \u200dprayer, or\u2064 the Bible; a church for fellowship\u2064 not faith, service not sacraments: that\u2019s supposedly what lonely\u200c Americans \u2064need. Yet\u2062 can such a \u200ccivically focused ecclesial institution, or set of institutions, \u200creplace our \u200dincreasingly empty (or repurposed<\/a>) churches? \u200dIn \u200dfact, they already exist, and have \u200dproved just as\u2064 incapable of replacing \u200bthe role vacated \u200dby that \u201cold time religion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mainline Protestantism\u200d Has \u2062Already Failed at \u200dChurch\u200c Without God<\/h2>\n
Some have recommended \u2063Unitarian \u200cUniversalism, which welcomes a wide\u2064 diversity of religious\u200d (or areligious) beliefs as long as their adherents accept various mantras associated with the political left \u200c(e.g. \u201cjustice, equity and\u2064 compassion in human relations\u201d). Yet Bacon doesn\u2019t like the\u200b fact that the Unitarian \u2063Universalist church remains predominantly white and elderly, and lacks activities for children. He also cites \u2063a 10-year-old organization called Sunday\u200c Assembly<\/a> that has attempted to establish \u201cnonreligious congregations\u201d around the world, though the group,\u2062 which \u2062promotes \u201cwonder and good\u201d and \u201ccelebrat[ing] life,\u201d is attracting few followers.<\/p>\n
But let\u2019s be frank. We don\u2019t\u2064 need to look \u2062to secular simulacrums of Christianity to identify craven appeasements\u2063 to the gods of progressivism. Liberal Protestants long ago capitulated to the gods of the left<\/a> and are little more\u200b than mouthpieces for \u200bthe Democrat Party<\/a>. Sure, the \u201cSeven Sisters of American Protestantism\u201d \u2014 American Baptist Churches USA,\u200d Christian \u200bChurch (Disciples of Christ), the Episcopal \u2064Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian\u2063 Church (USA), United \u200cChurch\u2063 of Christ, United Methodist Church \u2014 still profess to uphold biblical doctrines. But would any of these \u200dmainline Protestant churches \u2062 really <\/em>discipline a member (or even\u200d a clergyman) who confessed they didn\u2019t believe in various creedal documents or, for \u2064that matter, even Scripture?<\/p>\n
Mainline Protestant denominations \u2014\u2062 or what\u2019s\u200c left\u200b of\u200b them\u2064 \u2014\u200c are swimming with those whose membership is\u200d often \u2063attributed to the very \u2063same things endorsed\u2062 by Bacon, Murthy, and Murphy. According \u2062to Pew<\/a>,\u2064 only \u2064a little \u2064over half said religion was important\u200d to their life, about \u200d20 percent prayed little to never, more than half barely \u2064ever read the Bible, and 20 percent\u2062 didn\u2019t believe or didn\u2019t know if heaven \u2063existed. And \u200byet, these \u201ctolerant\u201d and \u2063\u201cdiverse\u201d denominations are hemorrhaging even their like-minded\u200d attendees, some losing almost half of their total membership in little more than a decade<\/a>.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
America\u2019s Abandonment\u200b of Religion\u2064 Is About Apathy and Addiction<\/h2>\n
And it\u2019s \u2064not as if\u200b the nones are champing at the\u200b bit to join\u200d secular civic organizations \u200bthat, denuded of any deity, prayer, or Scripture, still offer\u200d camaraderie\u200d and community service. Between \u20642019 \u2064and 2021,\u2062 formal volunteer participation in America fell 7 percent<\/a> \u2014 the largest drop \u200bthat the U.S. Census survey recorded since it began \u200btracking it in 2002. Covid didn\u2019t help any,\u2064 but this is not a\u200d new trend: Volunteerism\u200c has been declining for \u200ddecades<\/a>.<\/p>\n
No, Americans are not just abandoning God, but each other,\u200c escaping into their smartphones<\/a> and streaming entertainment. \u201cAmericans spend\u200d an average \u200bof 13 hours and 11 minutes a day using digital media,\u201d Forbes reported earlier this\u2063 year<\/a>.\u2064 It\u2019s not only unbelief with whom churches must compete, but Apple,\u200b Amazon, and \u2064Netflix. Loving your neighbor or the Lord\u200b your God doesn\u2019t offer \u2063the\u2064 same dopamine rush<\/a> as \u2062Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, I\u2019m sorry \u2062to say.<\/p>\n
This is why a church for the nones is dead\u2063 on arrival. The nones don\u2019t want\u200d it, \u2063as even Bacon \u2063must admit. \u201cBut I\u2019ve not followed through on any of these options,\u201d he writes\u2064 of trying to find a new \u201cecclesial\u201d \u200dhome. \u201cWith all my reservations, \u2063I don\u2019t really want to join \u200dan\u2062 existing church. And I don\u2019t think I am going to have much luck getting my fellow nones \u2063to join something I start.\u200b My sense\u2063 is that \u2026 \u200cthose who aren\u2019t at church are fine spending their Sunday mornings eating brunch, doing yoga or watching Netflix.\u201d Americans are\u2064 too disenchanted with an \u200d\u201cintolerant\u201d and\u2062 \u201cillogical\u201d religion and too addicted to its chemical proxies to \u200cthink an areligious alternative will\u2063 satisfy the longings in their soul. Choosing church for its social utility, liberal pundit E.J. Dionne acknowledges \u200bin a recent WaPo column<\/a>,\u2064 is not \u2064a particularly strong\u2062 draw.<\/p>\n
Only God Can Save Us from Ourselves<\/h2>\n
More than 16 centuries ago, a North African \u200cintellectual and private \u200dtutor\u2062 heard\u200b a \u2063child playing a \u2062game\u2062 and, curiously, felt compelled \u2064to pick up a book of\u2063 the writings of St. Paul the Apostle. \u2063Less than a year later, he was baptized a Christian in Milan,\u200d Italy. By the time of his death in A.D. 430, \u200dhe was already\u2064 recognized as a man of \u200bunparalleled\u200d intellectual and moral acuity, as he still \u2064is today, even by non-Christians. \u201cYou have made us for \u200cyourself,\u2064 O Lord, and our hearts are restless until\u200b they rest \u2062in you,\u201d St.\u2063 Augustine wrote in his\u200d Confessions<\/em>, \u200bone of the earliest (and greatest) spiritual \u2063autobiographies ever composed.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
Only when\u2063 Americans relearn that we are, above \u200ball else,\u2062 made for God, will our\u200d personal health \u2063improve and\u200d our communities once more \u200dmove with brilliant energy and excitement, unanticipated\u2062 byproducts of passionately orienting our hearts and minds to the transcendent \u2062and \u2063its transformative demands. Until \u200cthen, expect little from ham-handed attempts to fashion church (and spirituality) to our personal\u200c preferences \u200dand peccadilloes. As a young Augustine himself \u200clearned, all \u2062that resides in such vain efforts\u200d is vapid self-worship.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
rnrn <\/p>\n
Why have mainline Protestant churches attempted\u2064 to strip their worship services of traditional Christian elements?<\/h2>\n
\u2062Ral churches, particularly in \u200cthe mainline Protestant tradition, have long \u200cattempted to strip their worship services of traditional Christian elements in order \u200dto appeal to \u200ca broader demographic. They have embraced progressive values\u2062 and social justice\u2063 causes, \u2063while downplaying or even discarding essential doctrines and practices \u200dof the Christian faith.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, this approach has not been \u2064successful in \u200dattracting or retaining members. Mainline denominations have experienced significant decline in membership\u200c and attendance over the past\u200d few decades. The very churches that have attempted to create a “church without God” have seen their pews grow emptier and their influence wane.<\/p>\n
The reason for this failure is simple: when you remove God, prayer, \u200cand the Bible from a church, you eliminate the very foundation upon which \u2062it\u200b is built. Christianity is fundamentally a faith centered around a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Prayer is a vital means of communication with God, and the Bible\u200b is the inspired word of God that guides and shapes our beliefs and practices.<\/p>\n
To replace these core elements with fellowship and service alone\u2062 is to build a church\u200b without \u200ca solid theological grounding. It becomes \u2064a social \u200bclub rather \u2062than a spiritual community.\u2064 While fellowship \u200dand service \u200dare important aspects of the Christian life,\u2064 they cannot replace the essential components \u200cof \u200bfaith and \u2063worship.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, attempts to create “nonreligious congregations” or secular alternatives to traditional churches have \u200dlargely failed to\u2064 gain traction. The Unitarian Universalist church, often touted as an\u200d inclusive and progressive alternative, has struggled with demographic challenges and lacks the spiritual \u2062depth\u2064 that many seekers\u2063 are looking for. The Sunday Assembly, despite its intentions to provide a secular community, has \u200bfailed \u2063to attract significant followings.<\/p>\n
Instead\u2064 of \u200cattempting to replace traditional churches with secular alternatives, perhaps the answer lies in rediscovering the richness and depth of the Christian faith. As Surgeon General\u200b Vivek H. Murthy highlighted, religious communities\u200d have the potential to provide social contact, support, meaning, and a sense of belonging. These are important needs in our increasingly isolated and lonely society.<\/p>\n
Rather\u2064 than diluting or discarding essential Christian beliefs and practices, churches should focus on fostering genuine\u200b community,\u200c deepening spiritual\u200b connections, and engaging in meaningful service. They should provide a\u2064 place where individuals can wrestle with existential questions, grapple with doubt, find meaning and purpose, and experience the transformative power of God’s love.<\/p>\n
In conclusion,\u2062 the\u200c call for a church without God may be well-intentioned,\u200d but it fails to\u200c recognize the deep spiritual longings of humanity. The decline of mainline Protestantism and the lackluster response to secular alternatives demonstrate that a church centered solely on fellowship and\u2064 service cannot replace \u200cthe profound\u200d spiritual experience and transformative power of a genuine relationship with God. Instead, churches \u2064should strive to\u2063 create communities\u200b that embrace the richness and depth\u200b of the Christian faith, while \u2063addressing\u2063 the social and emotional needs of individuals in our modern \u200bworld.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
lows. Create a space for the nones, as suggested by Perry Bacon of The Washington Post. Begin with uplifting songs and allow church members to share their experiences. Let’s build a community that embraces those who don’t identify with a specific religion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":658,"featured_media":2032928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2032927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2032927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2032927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2032927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2032928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2032927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2032927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2032927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}